1. Field
The exemplary embodiments relate to a liquid crystal display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (“LCDs”) are one of currently most widely used flat panel display devices, and include two display panels on which electric field generating electrodes such as a pixel electrode and a common electrode are formed, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two panels. LCDs apply voltages to the electric field generating electrodes to generate an electric field in the liquid crystal layer, to thus determine the orientation directions of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer and control the polarization of incident light, thereby displaying desired images.
Among LCDs, a vertically aligned mode LCD in which the major axes of the liquid crystal molecules are aligned vertical to upper and lower display panels in the absence of electric field is gaining in popularity due to its merits of high contrast ratio and wide viewing angle.
To implement a wide viewing angle in the vertically aligned mode LCD, a plurality of domains having different orientation directions of liquid crystals may be formed in one pixel.
As an example of means for forming a plurality of domains, a cutout such as a slit may be formed in the electric field generating electrodes. This method of forming a slit enables liquid crystals to be realigned by a fringe field formed between an edge of the cutout and the electric field generating electrodes facing the edge, thereby forming a plurality of domains.
Ensuring wide viewing angle is a significant issue in a vertically aligned mode LCD and to this end, a cutout such as a micro slit may be formed in the electric field generating electrodes or protrusions are provided on the electric field generating electrodes. Since the cutout or protrusions may determine the tilt direction of the liquid crystal molecules, the cutout or protrusions may be arranged appropriately to distribute the tilt direction of the liquid crystal molecules into various directions, thereby achieving wide viewing angle.
The vertically aligned mode LCD may have side visibility lower than front visibility thereof. To solve this problem, a technique has been developed in that one pixel electrode is divided into two subpixel electrodes, and a high voltage and a low voltage are applied respectively to the subpixel electrodes to make the orientation directions of the liquid crystal molecules of the two subpixel electrodes different from each other, thereby improving visibility in left and right viewing angle directions.